Russia Attacks Kyiv Anew as UN Chief Visits

After meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin just on April 26, United Nations (UN) Secretary-General António Guterres, who was in Ukraine Thursday, was near an explosion that was caused by Russian missiles in what the UN called “shocking”.

The attack on Kyiv, which is the largest attack since the Russians retreated weeks ago, came just under an hour after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and UN Secretary-General António Guterres held a joint news conference.

The UN expressed “shock” by the proximity of the blast to their location as the UN delegate visited the Ukrainian capital but was safe from the attack, a UN spokesperson said.

Zelenskyy denounced the Russian attack, saying that the attack was a Russian effort to humiliate the UN.

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy denounced the Russian attacks near the UN’s secretary-general, adding that the attack required a “correspondingly powerful reaction”.

This latest development in the Russian invasion comes as Guterres met with Putin on Tuesday and discussed several matters, including the evacuation of besieged Mariupol, to which the Russian president agreed “in principle,” to a UN and International Committee for the Red Cross involvement in Azovstal plant evacuation efforts.

However, Putin remained firm on his stance not to let soldiers evacuate, saying that they should lay down their arms. (GFB)